Black February will be screening at the Library of Congress on January 24, 2014. The showing is part of the Jazz Film Fridays series, curated by Larry Appelbaum, and will be introduced by WPFW radio’s Rusty Hassan.

The date will also mark almost exactly one year since Butch’s passage, and I’m grateful to be able to honor his legacy with a showing of the film at one of the United States’ most important institutions.

Please come if you’re in the D.C. area.

The movie will be shown at the Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd floor of the Library of Congress James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E.

Black February will be playing at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis on Sept. 13 and 14.

The screening is part of a tribute to Butch by the Ballet of the Dolls, Ritz Theater and Open Door Music, featuring four Twin Cities-based large improvising ensembles, which have direct and indirect connections to Butch Morris’ work.

The screening on Friday, September 13 will feature performances by IMP ORK. On Saturday, September 14, the Black February screening will follow performances by Cherry Spoon Collective, Improvestra and Coloring Time.

Greg met Butch in the 1980s and was at Conduction No. 1 at the Kitchen in 1985. An esteemed culture critic, icon of the Village Voice and one of the founders of the Black Rock Coalition, Greg was moved enough by Conduction to start practicing it himself, notably as the leader of the groundbreaking Burnt Sugar Arkestra ensemble.

In the Q&A with Julia Lopez, Greg discusses Butch and the importance of Conduction.

A special thanks to Greg for heading out to the festival and sharing his insights into Butch and his work with the audience.

The festival will be paying tribute to the maestro this year by showing the film, and then on October 5 will be holding a panel about Butch and his music with his longtime collaborator and great friend Brandon Ross.

Istanbul was a special place for Butch. He lived there for two years as composer in residence at Bilgi University, and continued visiting throughout his life.

The BlackStar Festival is a celebration of cinema focused on work by and about people of African descent in a global context. BlackStar highlights films that are often overlooked from emerging, established, and mid-career directors, writers and producers working in narrative, documentary, experimental and music video filmmaking.

Here’s Butch’s great friend, J.A. Deane, conducting an Improvistaion at Konfrontationen 2013, in Nickelsdorf on July 20.
Deane met Butch in New York in the 1980s, and they worked closely together on many projects.